A food blog of original, kitchen tested recipes with easy to follow instructions.

Eat!

Eating is a necessity. However, we choose what to eat. The choices we make reveal a great deal about us. The food you eat can tell quite a bit about your heritage, your family, your fears, your sense of adventure, your attitude toward yourself and others, and a myriad of other personal tidbits to anyone paying attention. Everything about eating is a glimpse into your soul.

I hope to reveal a little bit about myself to you through my food. I enjoy cooking. I enjoy eating. I find pleasure in bringing pleasure to others. I hope that by sharing my recipes I bring you a little bit of joy.

Cook my food. Feed it to the people you love.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

I realized that I haven’t given you very many vegetable dishes. Today, I am going to begin to correct that oversight. Squash is plentiful this time of year and I think it is best served with as little interference as possible.

Wash and slice the squash. Cut the squash into medallions or coins, discarding the ends. Try to make the cuts the same size.

Heat the oil on medium high.

Add everything but the oregano. Sauté for about 10 minutes or until the squash begins to get soft. Stir often.

Reduce the heat and cover placing the lid at a tilt to allow steam to escape. Cook until the squash are completely tender and beginning to turn golden brown around the edges. Stir occasionally. This should take about 30 minutes.

About 10 minutes before the squash is finished, chop the oregano and stir into the dish.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Italian-Americans call this gravy. Once upon a time on Sundays, an Italian-American mama would start working on this dish early, right after Mass. The house would fill with the aroma of pungent garlic and sweet basil. In the evening, her whole family would gather at the table and talk and shout and laugh. And eat. This ritual bound them to one another like a sacrament.

Next Sunday, gather your family together and spend sometime reconnecting. And mangia!

Put on latex gloves. Combine all the ingredients (except the oil and the braising liquid) in the bowl and mix with your hands. Make golf ball sized meat balls.

Heat the oil on medium. Brown the meatballs on all sides for about 8 minutes. Turn them ¼ time every 2 minutes.

Drain the fat from the pan.

Add enough liquid to the pan to cover the meatballs about 2/3 of the way. Simmer them for about 45 minutes, turning them over at the 20 minute mark. Check the largest meatball to see if it is done.

You can also drop the meatballs in sauce or soup and cook them that way. You can serve these as an appetizer, on a sandwich, cut them in half and put them on a pizza, drop them in red sauce, or serve them over noodles with a white sauce.

You can cook the meatballs, allow them to cool, and place them in a single layer on a plate. Freeze them for about an hour and then freeze them for long term storage with a food saver system. Whenever I have free time, I make two batches of them and freeze them for later.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

This week America celebrates her Independence. Apple Pie has always been seen as the quintessential American dessert. But pie crusts are hard to make and in another great American tradition, I’m taking the easy way out and making Apple Crisp instead. Believe it or not, because I don’t add sugar to the apples and only to the crisp this has less than 300 calories per serving. Also very American to eat Apple Crisp and claim to be dieting. God bless the USA.

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About Me

I am a teacher living in Florida. I love teaching and I also love to cook. This blog combines those two loves. My recipes are very detailed because I am not making any assumptions about my readers' cooking experience. I want my blog to encourage even new cooks to be brave in the kitchen.